Honbridge and Votorantim plans 420km pipeline for Brazilian iron ore project

Honbridge Holdings, the Hong Kong-based group that co-owns the Vale do Rio Pardo project in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, plans to build a 420-kilometer pipeline to ship iron ore from the mine to a port in Bahia state, wrote newspaper “Estado de Minas”. The infrastructure will add US$ 600 million to the capital expenditures of the venture, originally at US$ 3.6 billion, bringing total spending to US$ 4.2 billion. It will carry a slurry blend of water and fine, processed iron ore to the port of Ilhéus.

Vale do Rio Pardo will export 25 million tonnes a year of iron ore to Asian steelmakers. The venture was set up by Brazil’s Votorantim Group, which sold a stake to Honbridge for US$ 390 million in 2010. Also, the partners submitted to Brazilian environmental authorities an application for a preliminary environmental license on July 3.